I return from Narnia....

I had a hard time trying to decide which picture to use for this first posting about our trip. This is the view from the farmhouse front window. Gorgeous, huh?
I always feel like I've escaped from the world and gone to another world when I go back to my "roots". Life is simple there. No TV. No computer. Community life keeps everyone busy caring for others. And milking 120 cows everyday keeps the family busy!! The farm has a constant flow of people both relatives and locals. They seem to know everyone!










I spent the first whole day at "Gramma's" house. Had a leisurely breakfast, enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine on the porch and read a book. Oh, for lunch we ate at the senior Nelsons'. As always, a lovely affair with the "elderlies" as I have affectionately named them. Afterwards there was a lively game of Boggle. I've never
heard 70-ish siblings argue but....











A highlight of the trip besides the barn and the cows, was going tubing down the St. Croix River. I know I'm making my cousins and siblings jealous. It was so fun! Except that my tube was so big and I kept getting pushed to the side of the river in the long grass and rocks. Then I'd have to get out and paddle my feet while hanging on to the tube. Thankfully the river is very shallow, so eventually I came to the sand and could run along the bottom and catch up to everyone! Here is the bedraggled crowd ready to be picked up.

Sunday morning Andrew and I drove to Minneapolis and went to Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church with our friends the Doug Johnsons. The new pastor of the church is Josh Moon and his wife, Bryonie was my niece's friend in college! Linnea also stayed with them near Oxford when he was studying in England. Another cool thing about them is that they studied in St. Andrew's, too, and also have love for Scotland! They went to the Free Church while they were there. Have to talk more sometime....

We had a lovely lunch with Doug and Maureen, Megan and Corinne. It's fun to talk about our time in Italy, find out who is in touch and where everyone is. This family is like family to us, aunts and uncles, cousins. We sat outside until it was time to go near half past 5.

We arrived back in Omaha about midnight on Sunday after stopping for an hour in Des Moines to meet up with Andrew's friend, Drew. I didn't make them pose for a picture...